John Wall – Not Going to Kentucky?

The Raliegh News & Observer has an article about John Wall’s recent visit to NC State, and when asked the question that top recruits hear ad nauseum, ‘what’s your list of schools’, one school was noticeably absent :Kentucky. However, Wall said he enjoyed his visit to the Pack, but also mentioned a new name, Miami, as a possibility:

Wall said Sunday that Miami was pushing for a visit and that he was not sure he’d keep Kansas on his list after it took a commitment from 6-foot-2 Elijah Johnson of Las Vegas.

“I’m not sure where I am with Kansas right now,” he said.

Wall is considering N.C. State, Oregon, Baylor and Memphis, along with possibly either Miami or Kansas.

This has to be one of the most intriguing recruiting stories I have seen in a long time. So many angles and possibilities. I have never felt like Favors and Wall could both wind up in Raleigh, but now I’m not so sure. With Lorenzo Brown and Richard Howell already pegged for the 09 Class, adding either Wall or Favors would be huge. Adding both? Ridiculous, but most likely a one year deal.

John Wall and Lance Stephenson really are competing for ‘who will be the biggest story in the class of 2009’? Wall is absolutely one and done and Favors is likely to be gone as well. One and done players are not always so easy to leverage, but with the talent NC State already has, getting one or both of these guys would certainly go a long way. Worst case scenario in that event? State gets both, still loses too many games and Lowe would not be able to last. Best case? NC State knocks Duke out of the ACC #2 spot in a single year.

Yeah, with the current stable of talent at UNC-CH, and with the 9 players in the 2008 and 2009 classes combined, it’s going to take a lot of defections for anyone to challenge them. I haven’t studied their classes very much, so I can’t speak on who may be one and done guys there.